


Branded

by commandercrouton



Series: Reylo Drabbles & One-Shots [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Character Death, Don't Read This If You Want A Happy Ending, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Heavy Angst, It Will End in Death, Last Words Branded on Soulmates Skin, Major character death - Freeform, canon AU, seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 11:41:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18365288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/commandercrouton/pseuds/commandercrouton
Summary: She’ll always be alone. She blamed herself for it. It was her fault her parents left her on this sandy planet in the middle of nowhere, selling her to that blowfish Unkar. Who would want her anyway? Not when she was branded the way she is.Rey of Jakku was one of the cursed few in the universe whose skin was branded; bearing markings  that showed there was someone out there who was perfect for her.Her person.Her soulmate.She hated it.She hated everything about it. The Maker was cruel to have branded her as such. She couldn’t stand the constant reminder of her soulmate’s last words permanently etched on her skin.Please





	Branded

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dalzo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dalzo/gifts).



> Hey guys so this was trapped in my head for a week before my darling Dalzo convinced me to write it. In that case, please DO NOT read this if you want a happy ending. This will end in a major character death. Read at your own risk. Fair warning. It hurt me to write this, just as I'm sure it hurts to read this this. 
> 
> Many thinks to Waffles and Dalzo for bringing out the Crylo in me. Love you guys. 
> 
> And as always, thanks to strong Beta who read this even though she hates angst. Love you RebelRebel!

She’ll always be alone. She blamed herself for it. It was her fault her parents left her on this sandy planet in the middle of nowhere, selling her to that blowfish Unkar. Who would want her anyway? Not when she was branded the way she is.

 

Rey of Jakku was one of the cursed few in the universe whose skin was branded; bearing markings  that showed there was someone out there who was perfect for her. 

 

Her person. 

 

Her soulmate. 

 

She hated it.

 

She hated everything about it. The Maker was cruel to have branded her as such. She couldn’t stand the constant reminder of her soulmate’s last words permanently etched on her skin.

 

_ Please _

 

Please what? What did they want from her? Would she leave them behind like her parents left her? Would she leave them begging? Her heart clenched as different scenarios ran through her brain. The words on her forearm were a constant reminder that she will somehow fail the person that matters most to her. It helps to keep all of her skin covered, protecting her from the sun’s harsh rays. (She laughed internally at the joke that the ray destroys life on this planet, just like Rey will destroy her soulmate.) 

 

Late at night, when she can’t sleep and the ocean she pictured won’t lull her mind to a stop, she pretended that she’d already met her soulmate. She hoped those words had already been uttered to her by some stranger she doesn’t remember. A faceless nobody in the sea of empty memories her mind can’t conjure. If she’d already met them, then they can’t leave her, and she can’t fail them. 

 

Being stranded on Jakku is a blessing and a curse. A curse that she had to fight to survive every day. But a blessing in that no one there was her special person. No one new ever showed up to this wasteland. And if no one showed, that meant her soulmate wouldn’t either.

 

Everything changed when she ran into BB-8. 

 

She was thrust into a war she wasn’t sure she believed in. What was the First Order and the Resistance to a lonely scavenger girl? Nothing until she discovered the Force ran through her veins. All of a sudden she was  _ somebody _ to everybody. 

 

The first time she met Finn, she was scared it was him, not able to differentiate the feelings of familial and romantic love. She’d never felt these feelings of love before. 

 

It wasn’t until she first gazed upon his face did she realize there was a difference.

 

Kylo Ren.

 

Her personal creature in a mask that had chased her through a forest of greens and browns. An imposing man who hid the fact he was just a scared boy trying to find his own path in the galaxy. He was just as lost as she was. Known for his bloodline, but nobody to the world around him. A vast contrast to herself, a scrawny nobody who the galaxy now fought over. 

 

The first time she looked in his eyes, she wondered if he felt the pull to one another like she did. He confirmed it in just a few moments — as if he knew what she was thinking. He was the moon and she was the ocean. She felt an incessant pulling and pushing in his presence, helpless in the shadow of the pale face that stood before her.

 

Rey didn’t know what to make of the feelings of pleasure and heat which coursed through her veins when she felt his breath graze her ear as he pushed himself into her mind. She recognized fear, she recognized helplessness. She didn’t know what the tension that settled low in her abdomen was when he was in her orbit. Rey did what she did best when she didn’t understand what was going on — she fought back. 

 

Relief flooded her body when she realized Finn and Han came back for her. No one had ever come back for her before.

 

That didn’t stop the small sliver of dissatisfaction at leaving him behind. 

 

That dissatisfaction evaded her the minute she saw that bastard stick his lightsaber in Han’s body. She had so little in her life she cared for, and he’d just taken one of them away from her.

 

He followed her and Finn through a frozen forest, so cold and different from the location of their first encounter. There was no warmth, no life, nothing. Just an empty void. 

 

She watched with anger as he cornered them, having the audacity to say it was just them now, and Han couldn’t help her.

 

He was an idiot.

 

He saw what was in her mind, and disregarded the fact she may be a nobody who survived in a desert wasteland, but she  _ survived _ . That’s what she did, and that’s what she’d continue to do.

 

Those were the thoughts that helped her center herself as she battled her opposite and yet an echo of herself. 

 

Colors of red and blue filled the desolate forest as she fought to survive, as she fought for Finn. 

 

She could have killed him, but she didn’t. 

 

She knew even then she couldn’t destroy this man before her. 

 

She didn’t want it to be him. She didn’t want it to be anybody. She thought it was safe when she went to Ach-To to train. Away from the war. Away from anyone who could be her soulmate. 

 

If she was alone on this tiny island forever, she would gladly embrace it.

 

The second she saw him sitting across from her in her tiny hut, she knew without a doubt he was the one. 

 

The Force was cruel, connecting her to someone she was hoping against all hope wouldn’t be her person. It wasn’t enough the fates graced her skin with his last words on her arm. It wasn’t enough that she would be connected to this monster. They had to be on opposite sides of the war as well, already cursed to be apart forever. Maybe it would hurt less when she lost him. Maker knew it hurt more than she could say when she realized she would leave him asking for something. 

 

With every connection, she felt her heart swell with happiness and confusion. Then annoyance when he asked if she learned the truth of the night between himself and Luke. She didn’t understand why he kept bringing it up. When he told her the truth of that night, she finally understood what that feeling she felt through the Force bond was. He was  _ worried _ about her. He knew that Luke sensed her power just as he sensed his. Ben didn’t want what happened to him to happen to her. Rey was taken aback at these feelings. When was the last time someone fretted over her safety? 

 

As they sat in the hut on the island, basking in the warmth of the fire on their bodies, she finally forced herself to study him in a new way. He looked terrible. Exhaustion and confusion clouded his features. He looked like he could use a good night’s sleep. Rey wanted to soothe him, to whisper sweet comforting words in his ear. She wanted to do anything she could to help him. Her body already felt the pull to find him, to be there for him, to hold him in her arms. She wanted to soothe his trembling lips and the turmoil in his eyes. 

 

When she recounted the story of the events that occurred in the cave, she realized he felt it too. The need to comfort her and be there for her. He was trying to hide it, so used to the feeling of rejection, but his emotions still seeped through. Unused to those thoughts, she avoided his gaze, not wanting to see what emotion was behind those turbulent eyes of his.

 

“I’ve never felt so alone,” she admitted.

 

“You’re not alone,” he whispered.

 

Rey glanced up quickly to meet his eyes. She saw the way his throat bobbed as he swallowed nervously. His eyes stayed on her though, never wavering in the firelight.

 

“Neither are you,” she replied quietly yet confidently. It was at that moment Rey decided to stop running from her fate. “It isn’t too late.”

 

She slowly and clearly reached her hand out to his. 

 

His mouth trembled as he nervously removed the glove from his hand in one movement. Their faces were filled with uncertainty, unsure if the bond between them would allow them to touch one another.

 

His hand traveled across the galaxy as he pressed his fingertips to hers, skin touching skin. They both gasped, shocked that not only could they talk to one another, but they could connect physically as well.

 

Rey felt her soulmark burn against her arm as a Force vision danced across her mind. She felt a tear trail down her cheek and she wondered if he saw the same thing she did. A brief glimpse of Ben Solo fighting with her, for her, for  _ them _ . 

 

His stare never wavered from hers. The only hint that he saw  _ something _ was the quivering of his lips. What he saw saddened him. 

 

Before she had the chance to ask, Luke barged in on them, and he disappeared from her. 

 

Rey knew what she had to do next for her soulmate. 

 

Luke tried to tell her it wasn’t going to work. He was Kylo Ren now, and nothing would bring back Ben Solo. She refused to listen to that. She  _ knew _ him. He was the stars, the sun, the air, the ocean, the blood in her veins. He was everything to her. She would do everything and anything to bring back the man she loved.

 

When the clouds dissipated and she saw him looking over her with stormtroopers behind him, she was hurt but determined. She refused to believe her vision was wrong.

 

She felt the need to be closer to him as they were trapped in the elevator. He didn’t look at her until she mentioned his name, his real name.  _ Ben _ . His eyes darted to her and they widened slightly. 

 

Rey briefly wondered what words were branded on his skin. Were her last words as ambiguous as his?

 

“I saw something too.” His words were soft as they left his mouth, caressing her skin with how soothing his voice was. “Because of what I saw, I know when the moment comes you will be the one to turn. You’ll stand with me. Rey. I saw who your parents are.”

 

She felt the elevator slow down as the words she said hit her. She stepped away from him, allowing her eyes to harden as she readied herself to meet his leader. The one who destroyed her Ben. 

 

From the first moment she laid her eyes on his disfigured body sitting on the throne room, she knew she had to destroy him. It wasn’t for a lack of effort, but it wasn’t enough. As Snoke twisted her body to face Ben, body kneeling like a lamb ready for slaughter, she looked at him with eyes full of disbelief and heartbreak. 

 

This wasn’t how this was supposed to end. 

 

The soulmark didn’t lie.

 

The instant she felt her body released from his hold, she  _ knew  _ Ben didn’t fail her. He felt it too. He knew what they were to one another. 

 

She grasped the lightsaber and stood, their eyes locked on one another, silently comforting one another as they realized they wouldn’t be alone anymore. She had someone to fight for, someone to  _ live  _ for. As their backs pressed against one another fighting the guards that surrounded them, she knew they would have to kill her before they hurt him in her presence.

 

As each guard fell one after another, she briefly wondered if this is what it was like to fight for something worth fighting for. This wasn’t about the First Order, and this wasn’t about the Resistance. This was about the bond between her and Ben. This was a bond that not even Snoke could take away.

 

With every hit and scream she fought with a vigor she didn’t know she had. The minute she saw Ben trapped, she didn’t think twice, throwing her lightsaber to him to save his life. Their stare never broke as the guard behind crumpled in a heap of red. Her relief was therapeutic. 

 

They were safe and together. They could save the fleet and stop the war. They wouldn’t be enemies anymore. They could live together and be happy. 

 

Her thoughts disappeared as she watched him walk to the throne, drawn to the power.

 

“Ben?” she whispered.

 

The room they were in was burning up, falling around them in shades of red.

 

“It’s time to let old things die.”

 

Her heart leapt into her throat when she realized this wasn’t Ben anymore. This was Kylo. She was losing him. 

 

The world was starting to fall apart around her, resembling the ruins of the room she stood in.

 

The soulmark burned into her skin, always a constant reminder that this wasn’t going to end the way she thought.

 

No, not like this.

 

_ Please. _

 

“Don’t do this Ben, please don’t go this way,” she pleaded.

 

His reaction to those words was volatile. His next words stuck a knife in her heart and twisted it. 

 

“Do you wanna know the truth about your parents? Or have you always known?”

 

Silent tears streamed down her face as he brought up her worst insecurities.

 

“Say it,” he prompted her, desperate for her to say something else, almost as if…

 

Almost as if the words she said meant something  _ more  _ to him.

 

“They were nobody,” she answered. Her mind was warped and her heart was crumbling and her soul felt like it was being ripped in half as more words tumbled from his mouth. 

 

This wasn’t Ben. The man she loved would understand all she wanted was him, not the galaxy that cursed them.

 

“You have no place in this story. You come from nothing. You’re nothing,” he continued, “but not to me. Join me.”

 

Ben reached out his hand to her, just like she reached out to him. She knew what she had to do as she watched him stare at her with pleading eyes. 

 

“Please,” he begged.

 

Her spirit was shattered. He uttered  _ that  _ word. 

 

There was nothing left to feel. 

 

In a move that would torture her, she reached out for the lightsaber instead. The object hung in the air perfectly between the two, a testament to how they balanced one another — always on opposite sides.

 

Rey awoke to see Kylo unconscious on the floor, the broken lightsaber between their bodies. She stood slowly, knowing it was the best way to check for injuries to her body. With one last look at her soulmate, she picked up the pieces to her lightsaber and escaped, thinking this was the last she would ever see him. 

 

A month later she was proved wrong as the Force bond connected them to one another. She was too shocked to say anything, they just stared at one another in disbelief before he disappeared. It took her a moment to realize she had tears falling from her eyes.

 

The next time they connected she was meditating outside the new Resistance base, letting the sun and breeze help center her. She was lost in her own mind when feelings of anger, loneliness, and want filled her mind. 

 

She knew who it was.

 

She opened her eyes to see him sitting across from her, neither saying anything. She felt anger seep through the bond and it only riled her up more. 

 

Before he could say anything, she cut him off. “Don’t,” she whispered. 

 

The bond disconnected.

 

The connection between them was growing stronger and lasting longer. At first, it was weeks before they saw one another again, and now it was days. She anticipated him, although no words were ever said. It was driving her insane. 

 

Next time, she would say something. Next time, she would tell him how it felt. 

 

Always next time. 

 

“Why?” he spoke. It was a first.

 

Rey was by herself practicing her sparring techniques, then faltered in her steps when she heard his voice. She stared at him in confusion, silently asking what he meant.

 

“Why did you leave me? I thought we were supposed to be together,” he explained. She noticed the way his fist clenched over his right thigh.

 

Rey stared at him blankly. “It’s hard to be together when we are on different sides. I didn’t want the galaxy, Kylo. I just wanted Ben.”

 

His mouth dropped open, wanting to say something else, but the bond left her standing alone. She went back to sparring. 

 

And so the relationship blossomed between the two. It started so suddenly Rey was unsure when it actually began. Maybe it was when she told him of the nightmares that plagued her as they both tried to sleep at night. Maybe it was when Ben recalled his favorite memory of the Falcon. Maybe it was when nothing was said at all, just two bodies holding one another in tangled sheets fighting the monsters in their own head at night. 

 

One night he woke up gasping for breath, clutching the sheets. She felt him sit up in the bed and she woke up to meet him. She wasn’t sure when the bond had connected them, but she was glad to be there whenever he woke up from his nightmares.

 

“Ben, is everything alright?” she mumbled sleepily, reaching for him.

 

His breathing slowed as he felt her fingers rub soothing circles on the back of his hand.

 

“You called me Ben.”

 

A pink blush grew on Rey’s cheeks. “Well, yeah, that’s your name.”

 

Ben blinked at her before moving forward slowly. He cupped her face and angled his head to hers. Rey froze as she realized what his intentions were.

 

Ever so slowly his lips brushed against hers in a soft embrace. The Force sang around them and everything felt so perfect, so right, so balanced. Rey sighed happily into the kiss, and she knew Ben was feeling just as content as she was. 

 

He pulled apart slowly, rested his forehead against hers, and whispered, “I love you.”

 

“I know,” she grinned.

 

Ben threw a pillow at her instead, before tackling her under the sheets, holding her close as they both laughed their way back into sleep.

 

When she awoke the next day her heart ached for him, but she knew it wouldn’t be long until they were connected once more. 

 

It was one starless night when they finally joined in body and soul. His shaking hands moved to undress her, but when he reached the band on her right arm, she pulled it away.

 

“Let that stay on.”

 

“Is that where…” he trailed off, looking at it with a look of pity.

 

“I don’t want you to know,” she told him.

 

He nodded in agreement, pulling her into a kiss instead. Sounds of their breathing and moans filled the air as they lost one another in each other’s skin, their limbs entangling not knowing where one ended and one began. The darkness fell upon them in patterns, the only light given to them from the moon shining through her window. Kisses and soft fingertips trailed each dip and crevice of each other’s body. They reached the edge together, falling off into a chasm of pleasure and satisfaction.

 

He held her and murmured sweet words in her ear as they drifted off to sleep with one another. She pressed soft kisses against his bare chest, promising him she would never let him down. She would never let him beg for anything in her presence.

 

Rey awoke earlier than him, reveling in the fact the bond didn’t disconnect after their first night together. The blanket fell off and she was able to admire his form in the daylight. She traced patterns on the moles of his body as she watched him sleep. She hummed in contentment as he snuggled closer to her.

 

Reaching for the blanket to cover them, her eyes were drawn to a sentence on the inner of his right thigh. She just saw one word.

 

_ Ben _

 

She refused to read the rest. A weight settled on her heart as a reminder of what they were doing and  _ who  _ they were in this war hit her. This was why soulmates wouldn’t let others see the last sentence. They were helpless in the power to alter their fate, trying all they could to prevent those words from happening.

 

She loved saying his name. Not once did he tell her to stop. Her eyes watered as she pressed a kiss on his lips before slipping away from the bed. She never once begged for the bond to take him away since their relationship started, but today was the exception.

 

A few weeks passed before he stared at her with his face set in a frown.

 

“What’s wrong?” she asked him, concern settling on her features.

 

“Do you not want me? Do you not want this?” 

 

Rey blinked rapidly. Did she hear that right? “What are you talking about?”

 

“You never call me Ben anymore. I like it when you call me Ben. It makes me feel like I’m normal. Like I’m just another man in love with a woman,” he admitted, eyes downcast.

 

Rey’s heart softened. “Sweetheart, that’s not it. It’s just,” she sighed, “I saw a part of the words on your skin.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“It said Ben on it. I couldn’t...I just don’t want it to end,” she whispered, holding her arms across herself.

 

“You know just as well as I do we can’t stop whatever is ahead of us from happening. No one escapes their fate,” he reminded her.

 

“I know, I just want you to stay with me. Why did we have to have these stupid brands on our body? Why couldn’t we have just been two normal people, living a life together instead of all of this?” She gestured to her surroundings.

 

“Want to hear a secret? You’ve said those words on my skin to me before. I thought that was it, but here we are. Everything is going to be okay, Rey. We will figure out a way to stop this war. I promise you.”

 

“Why can’t you just be here, with me?”

 

“You know if I leave, Hux takes over and then there is no stopping it. We will be together soon, sweetheart. Just a little longer.” He pulled her into his arms and she wished with every cell in her body that he was really there in front of her. 

 

If she knew then what she knew now, she would have gone to him at that moment.

 

Rey woke up in the early morning to an incessant pull on her. Panic seeped into the Force bond and she called out for Ben subconsciously.

 

“Sweetheart, you need to wake up. Hux found the Resistance. They are sending all the manpower. He went over my head. Sweetheart, please, wake up. I’ll be there as soon as I can,” his voice filled her head and she understood what the situation really meant.

 

“Please be safe, Ben. I love you,” she told him.

 

“I love you, too.” The bond disconnected as she ran to the General’s chambers, waking her up and telling her what had happened. 

 

Leia knew something connected Rey and Ben to one another and didn’t question Rey’s knowledge of the attack. Warning alarms sounded through the camp as soldiers scrambled out of bed, doing their best to grab their weapons and what armor they had left. 

 

They barely had enough time to meet the enemy on the field. Both sides alike knew this battle would end the war. 

 

She saw Rose, Finn, and Poe run to their X-wings, trying to hold off the air assault. Rey sent a comm to Chewie to man the Falcon and help out where he was needed. Rey needed to be on the ground to take out as many as she could. 

 

It seemed like they were winning, but she couldn’t tell. She knew somewhere out there, her friends were still alive and fighting as hard as they could, but the Force signature she needed to feel wasn’t there yet.

 

The moment he entered the stratosphere something in her shifted. She thought she would be relieved when she saw his Silencer take out First Order pilots, but all she could think was that she had a bad feeling about this.

 

He landed his jet when he figured out her location and ran to meet her. He rushed to her across the battlefield, enemies and comrades stepping out of his way. Ben grabbed her in his arms, kissing her roughly before setting her down. They both ignited their lightsabers as they met their foes, once again back-to-back. They were deadly together, not allowing anyone to harm one another. 

 

The Resistance caught on pretty fast that Kylo Ren was on their side, and aided him in taking down the First Order.

 

Blaster shots and smoke filled the air as the soldiers seemed to dwindle. 

 

The sun began to rise as the Resistance began to defeat the enemy. Rebels brought in the leftover soldiers and the disgraced Hux to be brought in for trial.

 

Just like that, it was over. They tended to their wounded and counted the dead.

 

_ No, something isn’t right. _

 

Ben and Rey locked eyes for a moment before he stood in front of her, shock stealing over his face as he felt the bolts of a blaster hit his back.

 

Rey’s eyes widened in horror as she watched the blood drip down his body onto the cold ground below. 

 

“Ben!” she screamed.

 

Her voice sounded shrill to herself. In a dissociative state, she wondered if she always sounded like this. Was this why Ben loved to mimic her at night as they grumbled over sleeping positions?

 

“You’re okay,” he breathed out, a dazed smile gracing his face. He seemed unaware of the dark red liquid seeping out of his mouth.

 

Rey heard the Rebels struggle to take the stray blaster out of Hux’s hands.

 

_ How did he get that? Hux will pay for what he did. _

 

Her only focus was on Ben. He collapsed to the ground and she fell with him.

 

The sun’s rising rays highlighted the droplets of deep red liquid seeping into the ground. 

 

The people surrounding them were silent, watching in rapture over the cursed love ones in front of them. 

 

“Ben, you’re gonna be okay. I’ll be with you. We’re together now. We can finally be together now,” she whispered to him as she felt his breath grow more shallow.

 

“Rey, I don’t think I’m gonna make it. I love you, okay? I don’t regret this,” he whispered.

 

He collapsed on top of her. Rey let out a guttural scream as his heavy body landed on top of hers, begging for help from someone, anyone. 

 

Ribbons of blood dripped from his dark clothing onto her gray fabric, staining them permanently. She felt tears stream down her face. Everything was happening too much at once, and if she could just breathe and  _ think  _ for one second she could save him and everything would be okay. 

 

Ben could feel the coldness seeping in and he knew he didn’t have long. His eyesight was fading as he took in Rey’s form. Her face was red and blotchy from crying, the freckles on her face standing out. Even when his blood was dusting her face, he still thought she was the most beautiful thing in the world. She was safe. He had protected her. That’s all he wanted.

 

“Rey, I love you. Don’t go down the dark path because of this. I did this for you.  _ Please _ ,” he whispered.

 

Rey gasped and began to sob harder.

 

Ben tried to get the strength to get off of her, but he couldn’t seem to find it. Everything seemed so hard to do. He was so tired. He just wanted to sleep. Just for a moment. 

 

“ _ Ben, please, don’t do this, don’t go this way _ ,” she cried.

 

A roguish smirk grew on Ben’s features as he realized their fate was fulfilled. He just wished he had more time with his little scavenger.

 

The last thing he heard before slipping off was Rey’s screams into the world around them.   
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Sorry. I am so sorry.
> 
> Come say hi @[CommanderCrouton](https://commandercrouton.tumblr.com/)!


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